Fire extinguishing grenade holder



Feb. 21, 1 933. O RUFF 1,898,266

FIRE EXTINGUISHING GRENADE HOLDER Filed Oct. 27, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Feb. 21, 1933. G. o. RUFF 1,898,266

FIRE EXTINGUISHINQGRENADE HOLDER Filed Oct. 27,. 1950 s Sheets-Shet 2'Feb. 21, 1933. 0' RUFF 1,898,266

FIRE EXT INGUI SHING v GRENADE HOLDER Filed Oct. 27, 1950 3Sheets-Sheets Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNITED s n-Tes GEORGE o. RUFF; E rams, ILLINOISFIRE EXTINGUISHING GRENADE HOLDER- Application filed Ottober 27, 1936.serial No. 491,577.

The invention relates improvements in holders for fragible grenadesadapted to shatter and release a fire extinguishing'fluid', when 3allowed to'drop by melt-ingd a fusible element.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide an exceptionallysimple and inex pensive, yet an efficient andreliable holder for thegrenade, which holder may if desired 10 be constructed entirely fromthin sheet metal. A further object of the 'inventionisto ina'k'e' novelprovision for completing an alarm cirouit when the fusibleelement'nielts and the grenade falls. 7

A still further aim is the provision of unique and advantageous fusiblemeans for normally holding the grenade engagedwith its support.

Fig; 4: is a verticalsection' on line-A5 1 'of' igsQ 5 and 6 are detailsectional views on the correspondingly nuinbere'ddines of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the sheet' met'al blank froniwhich the supportis forrned; j

Fig. 8 is'a disassembled perspe'otiveview by a fusible element.

Fig; 9 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view throughthe connectedends of the above mentioned arms; p

Fig. 10 is a vertical transverse sectional View on line 1010of'Fig-. 9 dK A preferred construction has-been illustrated and will be specificallydescribed, with 1 the understandi g wever that within the scope of theinvention'as claimed, variations may be made. Y

The device is'in the natilre of a braoket B' embodying ahorizontalt0pplate 12,- a verti- ,oal backplate' 13, and'two"si de plates 14"connected with the vertical edges of said back With the foregoing inview,-the invention resides in'thenovel subjeotrnatte'r hereinafter,

of thetwo pivoted arms which ar'e connectedplate and with thelongitudinal edges ofsaid top plate. The top plate 12 is of Ushapebeingprovided with a recess 15. between its arms 16, which recessis adapted to receive thever-. ti'o'al neck 17 of the grenade 18. Belowthe top plate 12 a horizontal brace plate 19' pro je'cts forwardly fromthe back plate 13 and provided Witha concave front end or seat20 toengage neckil'z. v y y Two vertica'llugs 21 projectdownwardly froin' thefront ends of the arnis 16, twoa ddition'al vertical lugs 22' projectinwardly from the front ends of the side plates 15am arespaced inadvance of said lugs 21,-and two bracing lugs .23 project inwardly fromsaid side plates 14 and are snugly. positioned in the angles betweenthese, plates and the top pl 'atel 2. F ront-to-rear pivot screws orother 24 pass through all of the lugs 21, 22 and, 23, said pins beingthreaded intothelug s 23 in the present disclosure and having heads 25abutting the lugs 22. t v I V Tw'o horizontal arms 26 are'conneoted witheach other in overlapped relationjbya fusi blee'leinent 27, said armsjolntly extendln gl' cross the open'front end of the top plate 12 tonormally holdthe grenade neck in the recess '15; The'outer ends of thesearms are received betweenthe lugs 21 aiid22 and are lee-say pivoted uponthe pins 24. .Thii s, as. soon as the element'27 melts, both arins 26drop by gravity to downwardly swungfposition, thereby freeingthe grenade1 8 and allowing it to fall andj shatter, releasing the fireext'inguishing fluid; v The arms 26 are preferably of acid andrust-resisting metal, bent into the shape shown most clearly in Figsq2and 8. The; overlapped ends 28 of these arms are thinned so that theywill morerapidly absorb heat, and said ends are formed with registeringslots 29 preferably having enlarged ends 30 The fusible element 27'passes through these slots and isupset at 27 to retain it in'place. 5*

Passing through and insulatedrrbm one" of the liigs 2l, is a bindingpost 31i Contact. 32 at its front end, said cofitact 'bi in'g disposedbetween said lug 21' and the forwardly spaced lugs 22. The facing side sltid the plate 19 is stamped from the back plate of these two lugs arepreferably provided with insulators 33 and 34.

The contact 32 is in the downward path of the overlying arm 26, so thatwhen this 5 arm swings downwardly upon fusing of the element 27, saidarm will strike said contact. Such engagement of arm and contact isutilized to complete an electric circuit through wiring and an alarm, asillustrated in Fig. 1,

10 the top plate or other metallic part of the bracket B being providedwith a binding post 35 for one of the wires. It will thus be seen thatas soon as the device releases the grenade, it also completes an alarmcircuit so that attention is immediately called to the fire and stepsmay be taken to prevent possible spreading thereof.-

The entire bracket B is preferably formed from a single sheet metalblank, as shown in Fig. 7. The portions of the blank which form thevarious parts of the bracket are identified by placing thereon the samereference numbers as those used on said parts. It will be observed thatthe lugs 23 are stamped from the side plates 14 and that 13. The uppercorners of the opening 36 formed by such stamping of the plate 19, areadapted to receive screws or the like to secure the bracket against awall or other support. The back plate and the side plates 13 and 14respectively, are integral with the top plate 12, said side plates areprovided with flanges 37 lying against the front of the back plate 13,and said flanges and back plate may be secured together by tongues 38 onthe former, passing through slots 39 in the latter.

It will be seen from the foregoing that an unusually simple andinexpensive device has been provided, yet one which will be highly"efficient and advantageous from all standpoints. On account of suchadvantages, the details disclosed are preferable. Attention however isagain invited to the fact that within the scope of the invention asclaimed, variations may be made.

I claim 1. A fire extinguishing grenade holder comprising a horizontallydisposed U-shaped .inherently rigid member to embrace the neck of thegrenade but incapable of alone supporting the latter, two arms looselypivoted to the arms of said U-shaped member respectively and jointlyextending across the open end of said U-shaped member, and a fusibleconnection between said arms holding the latter across said open end ofsaid U-shaped member, said arms and said fusible connection co-actingwith said U-shaped member to support the grenade, both of said armsbeing adapted to swing downwardly by gravity upon melting of saidfusible connection, thereby releasin the grenade.

2. A fire extinguishing grenade holder comprising a bracket embodying ahorizontal U-shaped top plate, two parallel side plates projectingdownwardly from the longitudinal edges of said top plate, lugsprojecting downwardly from the front ends of the arms of said top plate,additional lugs projecting laterally inward from the front ends of saidside plates and disposed in spaced parallel relation with the firstnamed lugs, two downwardly swingable arms disposed between the firstnamed and additional lugs, horizontal pivot pins for said downwardlyswingable arms passing through the latter and through all of said lugs,said downwardly swingable arms jointly extending across the open end ofsaid U-shaped top plate and co-operating with the latter to support agrenade, and a fusible connection between said downwardly swingable armsholding the latter across said open end of said U-shaped plate, thelatter being incapable of alone supporting the grenade, whereby uponfusing of said fusible connection and dropping of said downwardlyswingable arms, the grenade will be released.

3. A structure as specified in claim 2; together with bracing lugsspaced behind the aforesaid lugs and disposed in the angles between saidtop and side plates, said pivot pins being passed also through saidbracing lugs.

4. A fire extinguishing grenade holder comprising an inherently rigidU-shaped horizontal rigidly supported member to embrace the neck of thegrenade but incapable of alone supporting the latter, a brace memberbelow said U-shaped member having a concave seat at its front end toengage the grenade neck, means holding said U-shaped member and saidbrace member in fixed relation, and a closure extending across the openend of said U-shaped member and connected with the ends of the U, saidclosure being cooperable with said U-shaped member in supporting agrenade, said closure having a fusible portion for rendering itinoperative when fused, whereby the grenade will be released.

5. A fire extinguishing grenade holder comprising a bracket having aback plate and a U-shaped top plate, the latter being rigid with andprojecting forwardly from the upper end of said back plate, said topplate being adapted to embrace the neck of a grenade but being incapableof alone supporting the latter, a grenade brace plate projectingforwardly from said back plate below said top plate and having a concavefront end to engage the grenade neck, and a closure across the open endof said U-shaped top plate and connected with the ends of the U, saidclosure being co-operable with said top plate to sup port the grenade,said closure having a fusible portion for rendering it inoperative whenfused, whereby the grenade will be released.

6. A structure as specified in claim 1; together with a contact in thedownward path of one of the downwardly swingable arms and adapted to bestruck thereby, and a normally open alarm circuit embodying said one armand said contact and completed by engagement of the former with thelatter.

7. A structure as specified in claim 2; to-

gether with a contact carried by one of the rearmost of said lugs, saidcontact being disposed in the downward path of one of said downwardlyswingable arms and being adapted to be engaged by the latter, and a vnormally open alarm circuit embodying said one downwardly swingable armand said contact and completed by engagement of the former with thelatter.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE O. RUFF.

